1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a print processing system for generating print job data, a printing processing method, a printing processing program, and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Background Art
Printing apparatuses such as printers for outputting printed matter may use a secured printing function when outputting printed matter to ensure that only the person who generates the print job can obtain the printed matter. In this case, the person who generates the print job and person who receives the print job are the same person. This method can ensure that some other person does not take the printed matter from the printing apparatus.
For example, JP-2004-272483-A discloses one method for such secured printing function, which is used as below. In a given user environment, a computer, such as a personal computer, is connected to a printing apparatus, such as a printer having a secured printing function. When a user (i.e., person who generates a print job) prepares or generates print job data, the person who generates the print job inputs a user name and a password via the computer, and then the print job data to which such user information is attached is transmitted to the printing apparatus. The printing apparatus does not start to print the print job data immediately upon receiving the print job data, but stores the print job data in the printing apparatus. The printing apparatus starts a printing operation of the print job data only if the person who receives the print job inputs the same user name and password to the printing apparatus that was input by person who generates the print job via the computer, in which the person who generates the print job acts as the person who receives the print job. As such, if the person who receives the print job inputs a user name and a password to the printing apparatus that matches the user name and password attached to the print job data prepared for printing, the printing apparatus starts a printing operation for the print job data.
Further, a job acceptance verification function may be employed for printing apparatuses to prevent unauthorized access usage. The job acceptance verification function is used to determine which users can access a given printing apparatus and which user cannot access the printing apparatus. Specifically, when a user who is registered in the printing apparatus in advance transmits print job data to the printing apparatus, the printing apparatus accepts such print job data. But when another user who is not registered in the printing apparatus transmits print job data to the printing apparatus, the printing apparatus does not accept such job data.
When a user (i.e., person who generates a print job) prepares or generates print job data, the person who generates the print job inputs a user name and a password via the computer, and then the print job data to which such user information is attached is transmitted to the printing apparatus. The printing apparatus accepts the print job data only when the user name and password attached to the print job data match a user name and a password registered in the printing apparatus in advance. Otherwise, the printing apparatus does not accept the print job data and cancels the print job if the user name and the password attached to the print job data does not match any registered user name and password, or when no user name and password are attached to the print job data.
The secured printing function and job acceptance verification function described above may be used simultaneously to ensure that the person who generates the print job and the person who receives the print job are one and the same person, and to prevent unauthorized access to the printing apparatus.
However, in the conventional method described above, a user name and a password is input for the secured printing function as one single set, and a user name and a password is input for the job acceptance verification function as another single set, which means that two sets of user names and passwords need to be input when preparing one print job data and also when starting a printing operation. Such redundant input is inconvenient.
Further, if the same user name and password is used for both the secured printing function and for the job acceptance verification function, the following problems may arise.
FIG. 1 illustrates schematically the configuration of a printing architecture used for one operating system for conventional computers such as personal computers. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a printer driver 1010 may include a user interface module 1001 (UI module 1001), a graphic module 1002, an application 1011, and a spooler 1014, for example. The printer driver 1010 may be connected to a printing apparatus 1020. The UI module 1001 may provide a print-condition setting screen. A user may use the print-condition setting screen to set print-condition settings such as parameters for generating print job data, parameters to be attached to the print job data, or the like. The application 1011 may prepare document data. The graphic module 1002 may refer to the print-condition settings set at the UI module 1001 while receiving the document data prepared by the application 1011 via the spooler 1014, and then generate print job data from the received document data. Such graphic module 1002 may be referred as a “filter.”
In the printing architecture configured as described above, the UI module 1001 may store the print-condition settings set by the user as a Print Ticket 1013, and transmit the Print Ticket 1013 to the application 1011. In some cases, the application 1011 may embed the Print Ticket 1013, transmitted from the UI module 1001, in a document file 1012, and then store the document file 1012 embedded with the Print Ticket 1013.
If such application 1011 is included in the printing architecture, a printing operation may be conducted as follows. For example, one printing operation is conducted by opening the document file 1012 embedded with the Print Ticket 1013 without opening the print-condition setting screen. In such a case, the print-condition setting stored in the Print Ticket 1013, embedded in the document file 1012, is transmitted to the graphic module 1002 as is. Such print-condition setting, stored in the Print Ticket 1013, may be output to the printing apparatus 1020 with the print job data.
In the printing architecture configured as described above, one document may be handled by different users such as user A and user B as follows. At first, a user A prepares one document, and opens the print-condition setting screen to input a user name and a password (set for user A) for the job acceptance verification function, by which one printing operation can be conducted for the one document. After conducting printing operation, the user A may store the document used for printing operation as the document file 1012, and may transmit the document file 1012 to an apparatus belonging to a user B. Then, the user B may conduct another printing operation by opening the document file 1012 without opening the print-condition setting screen. As described above, the document file 1012 may be embedded with the Print Ticket 1013, storing a user name and a password (i.e., information of user A) used for the job acceptance verification function. In such another printing operation, the user B does conduct another printing operation to output a printed matter, but such printed matter is output with the user name and password set for user A for the job acceptance verification function. In such case, unauthorized access usage of the printing apparatus 1020 cannot be prevented, which means the job acceptance verification function does not work properly.
On the one hand, a user name and a password used for the secured printing function may be stored in the Print Ticket 1013, but such configuration may not cause problems. As with the job acceptance verification function, the user A prepares one document, and opens the print-condition setting screen to input a user name and a password (set for user A) for the secured printing function, by which one printing operation can be conducted for the one document. After conducting printing operation, the user A may store the document used for printing operation as the document file 1012, and transmit the document file 1012 to the user B. Then, the user B may instruct another printing operation by opening the document file 1012 without opening the print-condition setting screen. However, the user B cannot conduct another printing operation for the print job data because the user B does not know the user name and password of user A. Accordingly, the purpose of secured printing function to ensure that same person acts as both the person who generates the print job and the person who receives the print job can be maintained.
The above-described problems for job acceptance verification function may be prevented by storing a user name and a password usable for the job acceptance verification function set by the UI module 1001 to a storage area other than the Print Ticket 1013. For example, the user name and password may be stored in a storage area 1100 shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 illustrates schematically the configuration of a printing architecture of another operating system for conventional computers such as personal computers. In a configuration of FIG. 2, a user name and a password are not stored in the Print Ticket 1013. In such configuration, the user A can prepare the document file 1012 and open the document file 1012 for printing operation by using a user name and a password set for the user A. If the user B tries to conduct a printing operation using the document file 1012 without opening the print-condition setting screen, the user name and password set for the user A for the job acceptance verification function cannot be output to the printing apparatus 1020. Accordingly, the purpose of job acceptance verification function to prevent unauthorized access usage to the printing apparatus 1020 can be achieved.
However, in the printing architecture of FIG. 2, the graphic module 1002 may need to read out a user name and a password from the storage area 1100, which is something other than the Print Ticket 1013, to generate print job data for printing. FIG. 3 illustrates schematically the configuration of one aspect of the printing architecture of FIG. 2, in which some inconvenience may arise. As illustrated in FIG. 3, a client/server configuration may be devised for the printing architecture, in which the UI module 1001 may be disposed in a client terminal 1201 and the graphic module 1002 may be disposed in a server 1202, for example. In such a configuration, the graphic module 1002 cannot read out a user name and a password stored in the storage 1100 by the UI module 1001, and therefore the secured printing function cannot be used.
As such, if the same user name and the same password are used for both the secured printing function and the job acceptance verification function, usability of printing architecture may be enhanced by storing the same user name and the same password in a storage area other than the Print Ticket 1013. However, such method may cause problems with the secured printing function used in the client/server configuration, for example. That is, if the same user name and the same password for the secured printing function and job acceptance verification function are stored in the Print Ticket 1013, the job acceptance verification function which prevents unauthorized access usage to the printing apparatus 1020 may not be implemented.